Ground water organization gets $500,000

EPHRATA — The Grant County Commissioners announced Monday the U.S. Senate earmarked $500,000 for the Columbia Basin Ground Water Management Area out of a 2007 appropriations bill, which is set to go before the full Senate.

The ground water management area — roughly 6,000 square-miles in Adams, Franklin and Grant counties — was designated in 1998 to allow the three counties to coordinate efforts to reduce nitrate contamination in the Basin. Lincoln County joined the organization in 2005, expanding its area.

The original three counties petitioned the state Department of Ecology in 1997 to designate the ground water management area after tests found drinking water in 23 percent of more than 500 sampled wells exceeded the U.S. Environmental Protection Agency's standards for maximum levels of nitrate contamination.

"The appropriation is in recognition of our commitment and success in addressing nitrate contamination and mapping the geology of the Basin," said Grant County Commissioner LeRoy Allison. "This funding allows us to extend into Lincoln County, yielding critical information about local and regional ground water conditions."

Paul Stoker, executive director of the ground water management area, said they plan to utilize the federal funding for further ground water studies.

A portion of the funds will be spent mapping rock and sediment layers in Lincoln and Adams counties. The remaining funds will be spent monitoring water quality.

"The decline of the Odessa sub-area (aquifer) is an immediate concern and this research will help us determine short- and long-term options," said Grant County Commission Chair Richard Stevens.

"We appreciate the Senate delegation's support," said Grant County Commissioner Deborah Moore.

Stoker said the federal dollars come as good news, but remain short of the organization's overall funding request of $850,000.

"We still need to come up with additional funding if we are going to conduct the Water On Wheels educational program and the Irrigation Water Management cost share grower program," Stoker said.

WOW, an educational program for elementary and high school students, teaches kids about groundwater flows and best management practices.

The IWM program is designed to encourage efficient use of water resources and power by growers, who would utilize new moisture monitoring equipment.

In 2005, the Bonneville Power Administration funded a study by the organization on irrigation water management of about 48,000 acres, Stoker said. While the BPA-funded study confirmed previous findings, which showed IWM conserves power and water resources, no future funding was secured, Stoker said.

"At this time we are continuing to work with our local, state and federal partners exploring options for funding IWM in the Columbia Basin," he said.

"IWM is the most effective way to reduce nitrate leaching and it conserves, on average, 17.3 percent of growers' power use," he said. "Given these benefits, funding IWM is critical to the future of agriculture in the Columbia Basin."

The organization canceled the IWM program for this year, because of the lack in funding.